Police make nine arrests for drunk and disorderly behaviour at Doncaster airport

Police officers have arrested nine passengers for being drunk and disorderly at Doncaster's airport over the last two years.
Arrests have been made at Doncaster's airportArrests have been made at Doncaster's airport
Arrests have been made at Doncaster's airport

The figures were released by South Yorkshire Police under the Freedom of Information Act.

But the force did not specify whether the passengers were on planes or in the airport building at the time.

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Nationally, at least 442 people were held between March 2014 and March 2016, police statistics show.

Cases in other airports include drunk passengers accused of attempting to open the doors of a plane, smashing a window and banging on the outside of the cockpit.

Shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood described the figures as 'extremely concerning'.

She said: "Drunk passengers on flights can pose a real safety risk, and they can create an unpleasant or even intimidating environment for other passengers and air crew.

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"The new statistics suggest that more needs to be done to tackle the problem."

Passengers convicted of being drunk on an aircraft can face a fine or up to two years' imprisonment.

A spokesman for the British Air Transport Association, the organisation representing UK airlines, said disruptive passengers can have a 'big impact'.

He added that this behaviour can involve 'threats to passengers, crew and aircraft safety'.

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Aviation minister Robert Goodwill said: "Passengers who become disruptive on flights after drinking alcohol cause distress to other travellers, create knock-on delays to other flights, and in rare cases can even put flight safety at risk.

"That is why we strongly support efforts to tackle the problem. Airports, airlines and the police are developing an industry-wide code of conduct and running information campaigns aimed at passengers."

The Airport Operators Association said that while disruptive behaviour is 'unacceptable', it only occurs on 'a very small minority of flights'.